Get Your Politics Out Of My Science: The Sustainability of Scientific Research
Right now our world is divide in half; the first being that of legitimate science and the other consisting of legal policy. Often policy making relies on the facts presented by the research of scientists. However, with the way our laws permit and the way our government agencies allow, over half of the $150 billion of research in the United States was privately funded. Most of the time this means that large corporations (which have money invested in the product) are giving money out, but not without strings attached. · Funders of research always have some type of stake in the results · Concern for profit is much higher than our societies concern for health and safety
Contracts can be made to allow for review and editing of scientific finds by someone else. · Contracts of research include sponsor-prescribed trial design, limited access to data, restricted participation in data interpretation, and incomplete editorial and publication rights. · Funders of research get to choose who performs and determines the results of the experiments · Private funders were responsible for more than fifty percent of the $143 billion dollars spent on basic and applied research in the US in 2006
Legal problems · The bulk of research that informs health and safety policymaking is officials should request this information privately sponsored · Corporations are required to send their own test results to the EPA, allow for falsifying evidence · A child born to a DuPont employee a severe nostril and eye defect and another was born with an unconfirmed eye and tear duct defect · The fines involved are often far less than the amount the company will profit from the commercialization of the drug · Dupoint only received penalties of $10.25 million in fines for refusing to send research results to the FDA · Johnson & Johnson, A.H. Robins, Merrel Dow, and tobacco industries have also concealed evidence of adverse health effects of economically valuable products
Even within our government · Researchers received up to $1.4 million in applied research funds from the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to develop drugs that block the paralytic effects of neurotoxins. · Congress passed Act to ensure that when private parties gather in committees to advise the government, disclosed to the public · Editing, by White House staff, of a scientific assessment of global warming in an Environmental · Revising a National Cancer Institute Web site to suggest that women who have had abortions are more likely to have breast cancer (an assertion unsupported by science) · Stacking government agencies' various scientific advisory committees with pro-industry scientists.
Why is this a sustainability problem? · It is impossible to make the correct or best policy decisions if we don’t have all the information · Information never reaches the consumer · The poorest are the ones who end up paying for the problems created · Damages the integrity of our scientists and the trust relationship that has been established · We end up acting in reaction to problems and never in a preventative way
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Get Your Politics Out Of My Science:
The Sustainability of Scientific Research
Right now our world is divide in half; the first being that of legitimate science and the other consisting of legal policy. Often policy making relies on the facts presented by the research of scientists. However, with the way our laws permit and the way our government agencies allow, over half of the $150 billion of research in the United States was privately funded. Most of the time this means that large corporations (which have money invested in the product) are giving money out, but not without strings attached.
· Funders of research always have some type of stake in the results
· Concern for profit is much higher than our societies concern for health and safety
Contracts can be made to allow for review and editing of scientific finds by someone else.
· Contracts of research include sponsor-prescribed trial design, limited access to data, restricted participation in data interpretation, and incomplete editorial and publication rights.
· Funders of research get to choose who performs and determines the results of the experiments
· Private funders were responsible for more than fifty percent of the $143 billion dollars spent on basic and applied research in the US in 2006
Legal problems
· The bulk of research that informs health and safety policymaking is officials should request this information privately sponsored
· Corporations are required to send their own test results to the EPA, allow for falsifying evidence
· A child born to a DuPont employee a severe nostril and eye defect and another was born with an unconfirmed eye and tear duct defect
· The fines involved are often far less than the amount the company will profit from the commercialization of the drug
· Dupoint only received penalties of $10.25 million in fines for refusing to send research results to the FDA
· Johnson & Johnson, A.H. Robins, Merrel Dow, and tobacco industries have also concealed evidence of adverse health effects of economically valuable products
Even within our government
· Researchers received up to $1.4 million in applied research funds from the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to develop drugs that block the paralytic effects of neurotoxins.
· Congress passed Act to ensure that when private parties gather in committees to advise the government, disclosed to the public
· Editing, by White House staff, of a scientific assessment of global warming in an Environmental
· Revising a National Cancer Institute Web site to suggest that women who have had abortions are more likely to have breast cancer (an assertion unsupported by science)
· Stacking government agencies' various scientific advisory committees with pro-industry scientists.
Why is this a sustainability problem?
· It is impossible to make the correct or best policy decisions if we don’t have all the information
· Information never reaches the consumer
· The poorest are the ones who end up paying for the problems created
· Damages the integrity of our scientists and the trust relationship that has been established
· We end up acting in reaction to problems and never in a preventative way